Middle Earth: Orcs Perspective

'Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all. One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.’

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Dialogue between Gandalf and Dwarves concerning Balrog:-(The dwarves have finally decided to attack Moria without Gondor and Elves. To make sure, Moria can be mined without Balrog’s terror, they ask Gandalf about it. Gandalf was passing through, when he was requested to visit, Balin 11, the then kin of Dwarves)

Dwarf Guard: Hail Mithrandir and well met. Enter now the chamber of the kings, for king Balin wishes to parley with you.(Gandalf enters.)Balin: Welcome friend. I hope the grandeur of our court impresses you, for then you may see and realize that we have regained all our previous glory and strength of yore. But yet, we Dwarves have not regained all that is rightfully ours. But wait it is not aid that we seek now, but only knowledge. A knowledge which only you can provide.Gandalf: Greetings to you O great and wise king. Friend you cal me and yet you renounce and old friendship and alliance with the elves. But, surely this is your decision to make and I must not tell anything. I have meddled to much in the affairs of middle earth already.B: Our friendship brings with it a cost and is not bought cheap. Now we will offer it only to people who are ready to pay the price. O Mithrandir, but now will you not tell us about the Balrog?G: Ask but be aware that I may refuse to answer it. I, Gandalf the Grey, who became Gandalf the white, have already interfared too much in the affairs of Middle Earth. This age is not the age of the Valars and the Wizards, but of the free people of middle earth. Now each race must choose its own destiny, and we wizards must not do anything to change the way history shapes up.B: Did you not battle Balrog in depth of Moria? It is well known to us. Gilmi, Gloin’s son saw it with his own eyes. But now we doubt and fear that Balrog might have returned to Moria, or may return when we retake it, making all our efforts vain.G: It may have returned or not. I say neither nay nor yea. O king, it is for you to decide to attack Moria or to shy away.B: So you refuse to answer any of my questions?G: I am bound not to answer any question any answer which alters the course of history in Middle Earth.B: Has Gandalf forgotten the old friendship the old friendship of Dwarves? Has he also forgotten Gilmi, of the nine walkers, who risked his life for him in Moria. Will he not tell whether he killed Balrog or not.G: This I can tell you O king, no one can kill a Balrog. It is beyond me or anyone save Illuvatar himself. But this too I will tell you, I quenched him. Whether it can refire or not is for you to find out and decide. Oh and as much as I would like to stay and enjoy your hospitality I have other business to tend. So I must ask your leave.(Exits)B: (Thinking aloud to himself): Is it not said “meddle not in affairs of wizards for they are both subtle and quick to anger”. He has quenched the Balrog but not killed it. Is it a subtle difference? Will Balrog come back? We do not know. But this we know, now is the time to attack Moria. We have already waited long enough.

Magic in Middle earth is almost non magical. For Elves magic is their farsightedness both physically and in time, their really long lives which allows them to accumulate wisdom. For dwarves it is their finely crafted tools, their unmatched weapons and amour. Even the Balrogs, dragons can scarcely do anything really magical. They just were free of some physical limitations present in other people of middle earth. Only wizards can do anything really magical as Gandalf does when he produces fire out of thin air or closes a door by a word of power.So the Orcs did not use magic, per se. But in fourth age when their tools and craft had surpassed even Dwarves, their products seemed magical to rest of the Middle-earth. Their wahans ,which was not available to any other race for long afterwards, seemed real magic to the other races.

Monday, October 24, 2005

But then one event happened which made this dangerous travel in hostile lands unnecessary. It also forever changed the military equations of Middle-Earth. The Orcs made a chariot which was not driven by horses or wolves. Instead of being propelled by beasts of burden, it was propelled by fire. The Orcs called these chariots “wahan”, meaning that which carries.

These wahan could travel faster than any stead, or anything in middle earth. As the tools of the Orcs got better, the wahans became more sturdy and faster. In the times to come, these were to become the weapons of choice for the Orcs.

Now the Orcs could outrun any enemy and the travel between Moria and Mordor became much faster and much less dangerous. This greatly benefited the Orcs, on either sides of Anudin. The Mordor Orcs got the much needed mithril and the Moria Orcs got better tools, armor and weapons unsurpassed in quality in middle earth and wahans. By now, everyone in middle earth was aware of the power of the Orcs. The Elves tried to renew old alliances against the Orcs, but the Orcs had decided never to ally again with the Elves.

With the Elves forming new treaties against the Orcs, the Orcs signed a mutual non aggression pact with the Dwarves. The Orcs ceded parts of Moria to the Dwarves.

The alliance of men of Gondor and Elves was reformed. But many elves had already crossed the sea, and their numbers had dwindled. The alliance marched on to Mordor. But this time they had underestimated the power of Orcs. In their wahans, the Orcs poured out of Mordor and Moria in large numbers. They not only repulsed the attack but started occupying territories not previously theirs.

The war made the Elves and the Gondorians realize that the Orcs now could not be taken lightly. They asked the Valars for their help. But the Valars were asked by the Illuvatar not to meddle in the affairs of Middle-Earth. The Valars asked the Elves to come instead to Aman. But leaving the Gondorians at this time, without any allies would have amounted to treachery. So the Elves stayed behind to help in the war.

The Dwarves remained aloof of all these hostilities, joining neither the Orcs nor the Elves. The Orcs crossed the Anudin and overran parts of Gondor.

On the other front, the Orcs of Moria laid siege to Rivendell and the adjoining areas. The siege lasted for a long time before it was finally defeated. Help came to Rivendell from the most unexpected of the places. Tom Bombadil himself left his forests to defend the Orcs. With his help the hosts of Arnor and Hobbiton broke the siege of Rivendell.

But before that, the Orcs reformed their old alliances with races which had supported it in the previous wars. The alliance marched on to Rohan and other areas before it meet another totally unexpected foe, the Ents along with their Ent-wives. They now greatly increased in numbers proved to be an insurmountable barrier. The wahans of the Orcs could not crush them and their crossbows could not pierce their thick skin.

Now a stalemate was reached on all fronts in middle earth, with no side being able to get an obvious advantage. Both sides retrenched their positions and waited. Both sides were being bled financially and materially, without any obvious gains.

The second great winter of Middle-earth started during this time. The lakes froze over and all greenery wilted. There was shortage of food all over.

With resources barely enough to eat a ceasefire was called by all sides. All the races met and decided to stop the war then and there. The elves tried to negotiate a position where everyone got a place same as that before war, that at start of middle earth, but ultimately had to settle for status quo.

The winter lasted for forty years and no wars or hostilities were done during this time. As the winter receded, the need to maintain the ceasefire passed. But by this time the society and the economics of the races had so intermingled that no race could afford to strike other without seriously damaging itself. As summers came back to middle earth, and prosperity returned, the races joined together and formed the council of all races. All races were represented. This marked the end of the fourth age and beginning of the fifth. A age where financial and political power was much more important than military.

But then one event happened which made this dangerous travel in hostile lands unnecessary. It also forever changed the military equations of Middle-Earth. The Orcs made a chariot which was not driven by horses or wolves. Instead of being propelled by beasts of burden, it was propelled by fire. The Orcs called these chariots “wahan”, meaning that which carries.

These wahan could travel faster than any stead, or anything in middle earth. As the tools of the Orcs got better, the wahans became more sturdy and faster. In the times to come, these were to become the weapons of choice for the Orcs.

Now the Orcs could outrun any enemy and the travel between Moria and Mordor became much faster and much less dangerous. This greatly benefited the Orcs, on either sides of Anudin. The Mordor Orcs got the much needed mithril and the Moria Orcs got better tools, armor and weapons unsurpassed in quality in middle earth and wahans. By now, everyone in middle earth was aware of the power of the Orcs. The Elves tried to renew old alliances against the Orcs, but the Orcs had decided never to ally again with the Elves.

With the Elves forming new treaties against the Orcs, the Orcs signed a mutual non aggression pact with the Dwarves. The Orcs ceded parts of Moria to the Dwarves.

The alliance of men of Gondor and Elves was reformed. But many elves had already crossed the sea, and their numbers had dwindled. The alliance marched on to Mordor. But this time they had underestimated the power of Orcs. In their wahans, the Orcs poured out of Mordor and Moria in large numbers. They not only repulsed the attack but started occupying territories not previously theirs.

The war made the Elves and the Gondorians realize that the Orcs now could not be taken lightly. They asked the Valars for their help. But the Valars were asked by the Illuvatar not to meddle in the affairs of Middle-Earth. The Valars asked the Elves to come instead to Aman. But leaving the Gondorians at this time, without any allies would have amounted to treachery. So the Elves stayed behind to help in the war.

The Dwarves remained aloof of all these hostilities, joining neither the Orcs nor the Elves. The Orcs crossed the Anudin and overran parts of Gondor.

On the other front, the Orcs of Moria laid siege to Rivendell and the adjoining areas. The siege lasted for a long time before it was finally defeated. Help came to Rivendell from the most unexpected of the places. Tom Bombadil himself left his forests to defend the Orcs. With his help the hosts of Arnor and Hobbiton broke the siege of Rivendell.

But before that, the Orcs reformed their old alliances with races which had supported it in the previous wars. The alliance marched on to Rohan and other areas before it meet another totally unexpected foe, the Ents along with their Ent-wives. They now greatly increased in numbers proved to be an insurmountable barrier. The wahans of the Orcs could not crush them and their crossbows could not pierce their thick skin.

Now a stalemate was reached on all fronts in middle earth, with no side being able to get an obvious advantage. Both sides retrenched their positions and waited. Both sides were being bled financially and materially, without any obvious gains.

The second great winter of Middle-earth started during this time. The lakes froze over and all greenery wilted. There was shortage of food all over.

With resources barely enough to eat a ceasefire was called by all sides. All the races met and decided to stop the war then and there. The elves tried to negotiate a position where everyone got a place same as that before war, that at start of middle earth, but ultimately had to settle for status quo.

The winter lasted for forty years and no wars or hostilities were done during this time. As the winter receded, the need to maintain the ceasefire passed. But by this time the society and the economics of the races had so intermingled that no race could afford to strike other without seriously damaging itself. As summers came back to middle earth, and prosperity returned, the races joined together and formed the council of all races. All races were represented. This marked the end of the fourth age and beginning of the fifth. A age where financial and political power was much more important than military.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Orcstory: the fall of Sauron, Fourth AgeThe fall of Sauron and the unmaking of the one ring marked the end of the third age. With Sauron’s fall, the Orcs lost their main ally against the Elves. With Sauron gone most would have expected the Elves to strike deep and to destroy their orcish problem for once and for all. But Sauron's fall was a time of great joy for Elves and their allies. In such jolly times who would like to even venture inside the deep and desolate lands of Mordor, what to talk of waging a long drawn out war against the Orcs. And even without Sauron, the Orcs were not a problem to be dealt with in a day. It would have required a push against the Orcs in the unknown lands of Mordor. The elves weary of the long wars and ever ready to feast and to make joy almost forgot about the Orcs, whom they thought of nothing more than Sauron’s acolytes.The Orcs retreated to their old strongholds of Mordor and Moria. The fall of Sauron though a great loss, also proved to be a blessing in disguise, as it freed the Orcs from an old but often and moreover lately fruitless alliance. The fall of Sauron, rearranged the political landscape of middle earth. The Valars powerful and proud, stopped looking upon Orcs as Sauron’s acolytes. It also made their giving unquestioned aid to the elves unnecessary. The Valars took lesser interest in the affair of middle-earth.Meanwhile, the Orcs retrenched themselves in Mordor and Moria. The times of hardship bought out the better in them, as it had done many times before. To grow food in desolate lands of Mordor, for the increasing horde required extra-ordinary effort. But it also required something more, it required better tools. In the fire of Mount Doom, the Orcs forged tools unseen before. As new tools were formed, new secrets of smithing were learnt, which only the dwarves possessed previously. The Orcs surpassed all previous generations in this skill.The victors during this time bickered amongst themselves to share the spoils of wars. Most of the races/parties got to retain what was previously theirs before the war. But the dwarves had not got back their most profitable mine, Moria.The dwarves asked the elves and Gondor to help them recover Moria, a demand which was out rightly rejected by the elves and Gondor claiming lack of resources. This was partly true as they needed to rebuild their kingdom, but this angered the dwarves no end and they swore to never ally with the elves. Gandalf when asked about the Balrog said that he could not be sure if it returned to Moria or not. But the Balrog did not return to Moria. After sometime when the Orcs did not hear the Balrog’s noises, roamed freely in Moria and delved deep for mithril. The orcish people were estranged during this time. Mordor and Moria were ruled by two different governments, with little or no contact between them.The dwarves finally weary of waiting for help from their allies, decided to attack Moria alone. But even the dwarves in their hearts knew the futility of this attack with a insufficient army. The Orcs were ready for the attack, and easily repulsed the advance with both sides suffering little losses.But this war and loss of the dwarves alerted the elves of the growing powers of the Orcs. The Orcs to started getting ready for the war looming on their borders. The Orcs of Moria had heard of the superior smithing skills of people of Mordor. The Orcs from Mordor had increasing need of better metals to work with, especially mithril. This necessitated communication and trade between the two orcish people. But this required passage through lands not controlled by the Orcs and hostile to them. For sometime the Orcs tried to move through these lands stealthily in those lands but were always caught. This loss of man and material made trade very costly. Still the trade increased and flourished owing to great need of both the orcish people for produce of the other.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

For much of second age the orcish society had a democratic form of government. In the second age even if some leaders seized power, it was always through democratic means and by loopholes in the law.Democracy first came to the Orcs after the end of the reign of Shah-rookh. After his death, and Lazog’s victory, no leader could claim the throne bye the virtue of birth. So the orc clans choose their central leader by way of polling. It was the first recorded democratic exercise in the history of middle earth, though the early clans choose their leaders by popular vote.It had a trickle down effect and soon almost all public offices were decided by popular vote. It had a deep impact on the orcish psyche that it made them believe in equality of all irrespective of birth. It probably also made them more cunning and wary as they had to live with the deceits of politicians.The path to democracy was perilous and democracy was achieved at cost of many lives, and when no one intended it. After the war between Lazog and Shah-rookh, Lazog enlisted the help of prominent people of various orcish clans, who were not chiefs but prominent people in their own right. The chiefs generally supported the king, Shah-rookh, being old and natural allies. When Lazog won over, he made his supporters chiefs and other high officials, but that right and title was not to be hereditary but rather to be won over. Lazog took the title “Ruler by the Will of the People”.With democracy and the meritocracy it bought, the orcs made great progress in all fields. When Melkor was released from prisons, he was both astonished and pleases to find the Orcs not in need of help, but rather ready to lend it to him.

Monday, August 15, 2005

About the same time humans arose in Middle-Earth. From the very beginning there was dispute in the human race about the side to take. Just before the capture of Melkor, the human camp broke up in two. Some of the humans joined the Elves while others joined the Orcish side. The prominent group of the Humans which went to the Elvish side was called the Edain. After most of the elves move away, the Edain keep on the war against the Elves. With the war machinery of the Valars and supplies from Aman, it was not hard to keep up the fight against the Orcs.However the Edain and Elves didnot launch any major offensive against the Orcs. So in the meantime the Orcs nursed their dwindled strength and strengthened their army. The orcs launched a major offensive against the Orcs. However in preparation for this war the Orcs had become too top heavy. They had the army and the firepower against the orcs but not the resources to support it. The Orcs had no fertile lands or rich mines or big cities. The Edain, however had no scarcity of resources, coming from the Aman. Rook's grandson Shah-rookh was the king at that time. He launched fast and major offensives against the elves, but in his vengeful wrath, he destroyed and razed all the citieds of the Edain that he could lay his hands upon, instead of milking and profiting from them. He didnot have the resources to pay for and maintain his arme. So a part of the army led by Lazog rebelled. This was an era of much kinstrife and kinslaying among the orcs. This gave rise to the legend in the middle earth that the Orcs are always fighting amongst theselves. It also had a major impact on the Orcish pchyse that the Orcs became wary of all, even a cvlose kin. It also allowed the Edain to fight back.At this time Melkor was released on parole. He stopped the Orcs from fighting the Edains. With his coming, the Elves got a strong central figure and the wars among Orcs stopped. However by that time Lazog and his allies were clear winners, and the reign of the Rookh dynasty came to an end. Melkor allied with the Noldorian elves. But before this alliance could be cemented, the Noldorians elves betrayed the Orcs and Melkor and went to Valars. Valars wary of growing power and influence of the Melkor attack him. Melkor runs away to Middle Earth amongst the Orcs. They attack Noldor and destroy the two light trees and take away the three silmarils. Their is darkness in the world, and so power of Orcs and Dark Valars increases. They make war upon the Elves remaining in Middle earth. The valars are unable to send any help to elves due to darkness in the world. The orcs set up a huge empire in middle earth. But they grow too confident and donot crush the remainants of Elvish resistance.The elves cement their friendship with the Edain through intermarriages. A new race of the half elven is born. They take back the silmarils and sail back to aman where they ask for and get aid against the Orcs. The valars sensing their chance send all their might to the support of the Elvish alliance in middle earth. The Orcs unprepared for this lose on all fronts. Melkor is overthrown.This marks the end of the first age.

Have you seen a wild boar being hunted? It is said that ten spear wielding men will not suffice as long as they have any care for their bones. For the boar will keep on fighting, till one drop of life is left in him. So keen is the desire to live, that the boar just wont say die.This quality is called "jeejewisha", the will to live. And this no one, not even the Elves, can deny that Orcs have in plenty. Though the elves will put it differently and say that the orcs live like animals and wild boars.This is one quality which every Orcs is proud to have and values above all other quality. For it is this quality which has allowed to live in such trying circumstances. It is this quality which has enabled them to stay put in middle-earth in spite of all efforts and treachouries of the Elves. It is this quality which has stopped the Elves from exterminating them.Were the Orcs left any choice? He that is down need fear no fall. When their cities were destroyed, not once but many times, in course of long history of middle earth, they fought back with whatever weapons they were left, ate what food they could raise and slept in lands they could go. But all these efforts of theirs were left unsung and unpraised, for their kins and friends were fighting or dead. And after this they were called no better than wild beasts by men and Elves. But this also made them hardy like wild beasts. It gave them the Jeejewisha of the wild boars. In spite of all hardships life seemed fair to them.

Saturday, August 13, 2005

When did Orcs begin their rise in Middle earth?After the fall of Sauron, Orcs were left leaderless. But it also freed them from many shakles. The Elves had no pressing need to move against them. For all his help, Sauron was a laibility to the Orcs, with the entire machinery of the Valars and the Elves geared against him. With Sauron gone the Orcs were able to forge new allainaces. Being governed by one of their one also allowed them more freedom in choosing their friends, allies and policies.

How popular is Tolkien? Many consider him to be the leading story teller of the 21st century. His books have been read by millions. Movies on his books are amongst the top grossers of all times. A quantitative measure is the number of pages Google indexes for various middle earth terms. So I did some googling and came up with these reults.orcs:658,00elves:1,650,000tolkien:3,040,000middle earth:1,510,000middle-earth:1,650,000In comparision some other fantasy writter have these many pages referencing them."frank herbert":813,000"isaac asimov":686,000Please notice that the last two terms have been quoted before searching. This had to be done because frank/herbert are common names and all references will not necsessarily refer to the writter of Dune. But Tolkien is such an uncommon name that it usually will be reffering to the writter.